RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Erie County >> Branchville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Branchville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Branchville and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Branchville:
    • 41.960056, -80.140890
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Branchville
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Erie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Erie County
    • Since Branchville is near Crawford County and also Ashtabula County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ashtabula County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Branchville

Communities Also Named Branchville ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Branchville.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Branchville is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Branchville is located in Saint Clair County and lies 664 miles [1,068.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Branchville.
    • Arkansas
      • Lincoln County
      • This Branchville is located in Lincoln County and lies 846 miles [1,361.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Branchville.
    • Connecticut
      • Fairfield County
      • This Branchville is located in Fairfield County and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<1> to the east of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfield County community of Branchville.
    • Florida
      • Gadsden County
      • This Branchville is located in Gadsden County and lies 816 miles [1,313.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gadsden County community of Branchville.
    • Georgia
      • Laurens County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Branchville [Laurens County].
      • Mitchell County
      • This Branchville is located in Mitchell County and lies 781 miles [1,256.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mitchell County community of Branchville.
    • Indiana
      • Perry County
      • This Branchville is located in Perry County and lies 429 miles [690.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Branchville.
    • Maryland
      • Prince George's County
      • This Branchville is located in Prince George's County and lies 265 miles [426.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Branchville.
    • Mississippi
      • Attala County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Branchville [Attala County].
    • New Jersey
      • Sussex County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Branchville [Sussex County].
    • North Carolina
      • Robeson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Branchville [Robeson County].
    • South Carolina
      • Orangeburg County
      • This Branchville is located in Orangeburg County and lies 602 miles [968.8 km]<1> to the south of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orangeburg County community of Branchville.
    • Tennessee
      • Bedford County
      • This Branchville is located in Bedford County and lies 572 miles [920.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford County community of Branchville.
      • Franklin County
      • This Branchville is located in Franklin County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km] to the southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Branchville.
    • Texas
      • Milam County
      • This Branchville is located in Milam County and lies 1,195 miles [1,923.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Milam County community of Branchville.
    • Virginia
      • Southampton County
      • This Branchville is located in Southampton County and lies 402 miles [647 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Branchville that is located in Erie County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Southampton County community of Branchville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Branchville ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Bagdad
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bagdad is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagdad
  • Charter Oaks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Charter Oaks is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Oaks
  • Chestnut Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Draketown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Draketown is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
  • Eaglehurst
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Eaglehurst is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglehurst
  • Erie Heights
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Erie Heights is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie Heights
  • Fairplain
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairplain is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplain
  • Francis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Francis is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
  • Indian Head
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Head is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
  • Little Elk
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Little Elk is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Elk
  • Pageville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pageville is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pageville
  • Paperville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Paperville is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paperville
  • Reeds Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Reeds Corners is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Corners
  • Swanville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Swanville is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanville

How Far From Branchville to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Branchville to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Branchville and extending to:

  • Erie, which is the Seat of Erie County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Branchville to Erie, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 205 miles [329.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 267 miles [429.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,892 miles [9,482.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,617 miles [10,649 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,493 miles [7,230.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Branchville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Branchville could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Branchville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Branchville to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Branchville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9601, Longitude: -80.1409       In this case, the coordinates for Branchville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.591 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.84 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.924 degrees.